Onimusha Way Of The Sword is more than the best game of the year. It is more than than the best game Capcom has ever produced, surpassing the likes of Resident Evil 4 and God Hand. It is one of the best games ever made. In between this and the release of Granblue Fantasy earlier this year, I am beginning to feel as if the ‘Dark Age’ of gaming that was brought about due to the rise of Playstation is now finally coming to an end. Onimusha Way of The Sword is the best game I’ve played from a third party developer in a long time- perhaps ever. The game maintains a perfect balance between compelling gameplay, a well weaved story, and gorgeous visuals to create a game that I would put up there with the mythical Ninja Gaiden Black.
That may be a bit sacrilegious for some people (Ninja Gaiden Black is considered the greatest 3D action game of all time) but I do feel as if Onimusha is good enough to warrant the discussion. Although Onimusha is a far slower paced game than Ninja Gaiden, taking more cues from Fromsoftware titles than anything else, I would argue that the game features a very deliberate design that makes the combat endlessly entertaining.
I remember being concerned, going through the tutorial area that the combat would be too simplistic and basic, but in actuality the game features an elaborate difficult curve that continues to add on new mechanics as you progress. Right up until the final boss of the game I was learning more and more about parrying, about dodging, about the Issen Counter Strikes, and more. It’s hard to believe that early on I genuinely thought that you could get through the game by simply blocking everything. But that’s the beauty of it: The game balances its intense difficulty with a system that rewards players that wish to learn it. The more you learn, the better you get at the game. And when you do that, bosses that have been giving you trouble for hours go down in the most satisfying way- only to be replaced by the next, even more dangerous boss.
Most people, I think, would compare the game to the Souls franchise, but it must be understood that Onimusha Way of the Sword improves on that formula exponentially. Not only does the game look better- with better visuals and especially better animations and effects- it also features a far more compelling story, with far more compelling characters. It has been said by others that the story of Fromsoft games is carried entirely by Youtubers explaining the lore, often by exaggerating aspects and making it seem more interesting than it actually is. Onimusha, in comparison, is a genuinely well told story with a surprisingly compelling message about learning to enjoy life’s challenges. Not only is the message a good one- it ties into the game’s core design philosophy in a way that I don’t believe that I’ve ever seen before. Most video game stories tend to disassociate from the actual gameplay, as if they’re embarrassed by it. But Onimusha embraces what it is and executes it perfectly. So perfectly, in fact, that I believe it to be a genuine milestone in video game storytelling.
If you compare the story of what happens in this game to something like Bayonetta, Devil May Cry, or Ninja Gaiden, you would very quickly realize that the stories in most action games is an afterthought, meant to justify the protagonist going around and fighting things. Onimusha raises the bar by establishing real stakes, characters, consequences- and even the personal desires and feelings of the characters. I had not been so emotionally invested in the cast of a game like this in a very long time- and I was genuinely moved by several key scenes.
The game excels from a gameplay loop standpoint too. You do indeed fight similar enemies throughout the game, but the combat is so dynamic and interesting that you will never get bored of it. There are several repeat bosses throughout- many of them rematches with characters you had already fought before- but every time you fight them your skillset and theirs has radically changed. It was shocking to me how many times you fought the same boss throughout the game- and yet every time it would feel completely different, with new moves, abilities, and strategies it could use against you, which almost always forced you to raise your own skill level to compete. It creates the feeling as if the Genma you kill are actually becoming more dangerous and more powerful.
The game features a fairly complex control scheme that took me a long time to get used to: Every single button on the controller is used, to the point where the game is so intense that it’s sometimes difficult to use an item or change your armaments mid-fight. The complex control layout, which features a block button (That allows you to block, deflect, or parry depending on your timing) a dodge button (That requires pin point precision and timing) and two different standard attack options (one and two handed) takes a lot of getting used to, especially as the game keeps tacking on more and more complex features- including a number of Oni Armaments tied to the R button, a bow and arrow tied to the ZR button, and towards the end of the game culminates in an Oni Transformation that is required to beat the final phase of the final boss. It takes a lot getting used to- in fact, I did not realize that deflecting enemy attacks actually lowered the stamina bar of the enemy quicker than parrying did until the final boss. Until then I had simply been parrying everything to increase my blaze gauge to do more damage that way.
The game’s complex controls can be overbearing, but the end result is a dynamic combat system that is bafflingly well thought out. I will never forget out, when fighting a boss with wind powers, how I noticed that his back bulged with air that he was taking in. I thought to myself ‘if only I could pierce that with something’ before I decided to try the bow. I seriously thought that it would do nothing- but instead the enemy’s attack fell to pieces and I had a huge opening for a counter attack. Moments like that really demonstrate how well thought out Onimusha’s combat system is. And it wasn’t an isolated incident either- the entire game is filled with clever little gameplay bits like that which gives the player a sense of excitement and discovery that is hard to find in other games.
I have very few issues with the game as a whole, but I do suppose I must address them in this review. Firstly, I feel as if the game did a fairly bad job introducing its world and characters. Although I grew to love the cast over time, due to their strong characterization and actions throughout the story, there was this sense early on that they weren’t introduced very well. The best example of this is probably the female lead, Okuni. She’s introduced to you as just a girl living at a temple that becomes your base of operations, and it was really easy to write her off as just a support character. But eventually, you discover there is more to her character, and she becomes an extremely compelling character in her own right.
The problem is that Okuni’s story is not built up (It has no rising action) and it does not have a proper conclusion (Falling action) She really feels like a character straight out of the PS2 games- where she pops outo f nowhere to be present during cutscenes, and then vanishes again when the cutscene ends and it’s time to fight someone or something. Her character arc of wanting to save her friend from the genma is genuinely heartbreaking and compelling- but none of it was built up properly and as a result somewhat feels as if it came out of nowhere. It’s very unfortunate because I really love the character, but she just falls short of being a truly compelling female lead.
You also have the rival character, Ganryu, who you fight in the beginning and towards the end. The character has a great setup, a great arc, a cool design and is amazing to fight- but in between the periods where he’s present and relevant, he is nowhere to be found. He is not mentioned, brought up, or addressed. The game really feels like it completely forgot about him for fifteen hours or so before you get the chance to fight him again. Again, he’s an amazing character with great individual scenes, but the game does not do enough to build him up outside of these sequences.
Secondly, there is a feeling later on that some of the later areas are sloppily designed and boring. They become more puzzle focused, which isn’t the game’s strong point, and new enemy types stop being introduced. It does feel like padding- but it’s a very brief segment that’s very easy to overlook considering the game’s overall quality. The side quests too are unfortunately not quite as well written or interesting as I would like, in spite of some strong aspects. Randomly brining back minor characters from specific cutscenes and fleshing out their stories and personalities was probably the highlight for me. There’s also the issue of how running around Kyoto can be somewhat repetitive- enemies spawn in the same areas over and over, creating this weird dissonance between the vibe that the setting is post-apocalyptic versus the actual reality that plenty of people are still somehow living here. There’s also this strange thing early on when Okuni asks you to fetch Hozuki Pouch materials for her, and you are told where they are… but many of them are locked behind story progression quests, and can’t be reached until fifteen hours later.
These are simply minor issues with a game that is genuinely near flawless: The antagonists are some of the best I’ve ever seen, and feature a lot of daring design decisions. I specifically recall that moment when the main antagonist, Yoshitsune, beat his female associate Dokyo on a bridge. In spite of Dokyo being an unrepentant evil monster, the fact that Capcom were willing to show a woman get beaten on screen so badly by a man comes off as downright shocking- which really contributes to the overall dark fantasy theme of the game. The designs for the creatures and enemies are also the best I’ve ever seen- Dokyo looks like she stepped out of some traditional Japanese artwork, while Yoshitsune himself rather looks like a kindly old man, in spite of his true nature.
Things like this really give the game a kind of unique personality and appeal that is difficult to quantify. The world feels very vast and lived in- you meet all sorts of monsters who are working to accomplish all sorts of bizarre goals. You really feel like you’re up against a really dangerous world, but the genuinely likable cast (Which is far larger than most other games in the genre) really makes it feel as if what you’re doing is worthwhile.
To me, Onimusha is something special. The game has truly proven that Capcom can still produce amazing games. And I hope, that someday, I will get to experience a proper sequel.